In his late twenties, Jamie spent a lot of time eating at his favorite pizza place in Savannah, called Cousin Vinny’s. He became obsessed with their pesto pizza, which uses savory basil sauce in place of the usual tomato. We don’t eat quite as much pizza these days, but we do keep pesto in our freezers for whenever we want fresh garlic and basil flavor. Try tossing pesto with cherry tomatoes and leftover grilled chicken and serve it on top of greens for a main-course salad, or make this easy, healthy recipe, which takes about fifteen minutes and looks as good as it tastes. For a little decadence, try serving it with Cheesy Garlic Bread (page 102).
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly coat a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Step 2
In a bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the pesto and season with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken breasts with the remaining 3 tablespoons pesto and season with additional salt, if desired.
Step 3
Arrange the chicken in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork.
a bit more, y’all
Step 4
Pestos vary in their salt content, so take a little taste of the pesto before it goes on the chicken and season accordingly.
